I knew I hated September 1, but I forgot just how much.
Luckily, for the past few years, I’ve been able to avoid all the chaos of moving day. But today it seems like it’s everywhere.
All down my street there are moving trucks and trash piles on the sidewalk.
People are packing up and leaving my building (and few people are moving in, it seems). And worse, I actually had to go into the belly of the beast, into Allston, where my new landlord‘s office is. Continue reading
Ninety-degree-plus days mean one thing to me: ice cream.
And so because my walk home through Coolidge Corner means walking right by J.P. Licks, I decided to stop for dinner on the way home (at Quiznos) so I could get some ice cream as I walked down the street.
One bad sandwich later, I got to J.P. Licks. Sort of. The line was so long that it stretched the full length of the store, out the door, and down Harvard Ave. past the entrance to the Coolidge Corner Clubhouse.
That’s a long line.
But I was determined, so I got in line and worked my way to the front. Continue reading
It’s no surprise that after such a beautiful day, J.P. Licks was the place to be last night in Coolidge Corner. It seemed like everyone — jubilant Red Sox fans, parents with young kids, couples on date night, high school girls with little fashion sense, families, pets, etc. — was getting a scoop, and the line was out the door for much of the time that Joe, Marie, the twins, and I were there.
So how thankful was I that there was plenty of entertainment to go along with my soft-serve. No, I’m not referring again to the high school girls. I speak of the folks who tried in vain to get into the perfect parking spot in front. We’re talking premium rock star parking, with plenty of space to slide in. First there was a young lady who totally didn’t cut the wheel correctly, and who just had to answer her cell phone while parking — and holding up traffic, I might add. Her first try, she was still a couple feet from the curb. And after two tries, she just gave up and drove away. She was followed by an older couple who undershot it and actually bumped into the car behind them before leaving their car jutting out into the street and getting out — ignoring all the people who were watching and saying under their breath, “Bad parking job. I can’t believe they’re going to leave it like that.”
Why watching inept parallel parkers never gets old, I just don’t know. But on this spring night, it was great fun.
Here are some questions I’m asking on this sunny, very nice Friday afternoon:
* Will anything ever take up residence where Zathmary’s used to be?
* Will the weather actually be as nice as predicted this weekend, and will it stay that way until the fall? Does this mean winter is really over?
* Can Dice-K beat the Yankees on Sunday, or will he have the same lame result as his last two games, where it looks alright but he still loses? Is he really the worst starter on the team??
* If a crowded T train on the morning commute is bad, then is there much worse than having to be stuck next to a guy who reeks of cigarette smoke?
* Is there a funnier show on TV right now than 30 Rock?
* Indians didn’t even like Sanjaya. So aside from the 13-year-olds, who did?
* I’m a third of the way to my WalkAmerica fundraising goal. Will you help me go all the way?
As a movie fan, there are few things I enjoy more than seeing a film and then having the director, screenwriter, or an actor present to do a Q&A afterwards. I got to do that twice last fall, for The Last Kiss and Fast Food Nation.
This week, the Coolidge Corner Theater honored Thelma Schoonmaker, an Academy Award–winning editor who has worked with Martin Scorsese on all his films since Raging Bull, and part of the festivities was a screening of The Departed Thursday night, followed by a panel discussion. You know I was there. Continue reading
In these last few hours before Passover begins, I just wanted to recall the good old days when I loved Finagle a Bagel. I used to go to the Chestnut Hill location most every Saturday for lunch, and I’d usually get the same thing: a smoked turkey sandwich on an egg bagel. And before I let my recollections run wild, I’ll just say I remember it being a usually pleasant and not too expensive experience. When it was announced that Finagle was opening a location in Coolidge Corner, I was pretty excited. After all, when your only other bagel option (on a Saturday, at least) is Bruegger’s, a Finagle store is like manna from heaven.
But what a waste this store has been. When I stopped in yesterday, I was reminded of why I’ve largely stayed away from the store since its opening a couple years ago. For one thing, it’s too small, by half. That’s the biggest complaint I have. Whether you sit down to eat or you’re simply on line to order, if there’s a crowd, you can’t help but feel cramped. Also, the service is slow. All I had was a bagel with cream cheese. Took about 10 minutes to get that after I ordered. I suppose I can’t complain about the cream cheese slapped on the bagel, but other times I’ve been to Finagle the sandwich making was shoddy (something I’ve complained about before). And finally, a bagel with cream cheese, a medium soda, and a cookie cost me about $6.50. I don’t want to quibble about something like price, but when did such a minor meal become so expensive (relatively speaking, of course)? Used to be you could get a bagel sandwich with turkey or something similarly substantial and a soda for that amount. And it came with chips or a “seasonal accompaniment” like cantaloupe for free. I mean, at Bruegger’s, I get a bagel with cream cheese, a soda and a muffin or something (no comments about my poor eating habits, please), and it only costs about $5.50. A turkey sandwich at Finagle now costs close to $6 on its own, and that’s without the accompaniment. Of course, the price thing is not specific to the Coolidge Corner location, but it’s one more reason why I have begun to really dislike Finagle. How times have changed. Ah well. At least the bagels themselves are still good.
You may have noticed a week and a half ago that I mentioned something about my car having been broken into.
At the time, the cops from Brookline who took the report and dusted for fingerprints told me mine wasn’t the only one in the neighborhood that had been broken into, and in fact, mine was the rare one where the window wasn’t broken.
But now I’ve seen that there’s been a rash of break-ins all over the city.
So as a PSA, I’ll just say that if you have a car, make sure it’s locked and that any valuables are removed. Don’t be like me and not remove the faceplate from your radio.
You may just come to find that it and the rest of the radio are missing one day. Continue reading
It seems my blogging power has untold reach. First, on the way home, I saw that the stretch of sidewalk I wrote about earlier today had been cleared. Now I know it wasn’t all my doing; Universal Hub linked to it and drove a lot of traffic to my post. And of course, I didn’t physically do the shoveling. But still, I’d like to think I had at least something to do with it finally being cleared.
And then my girl Haley Scarnato wasn’t voted off American Idol, which means you all must have read my post about her and called in to vote. Good for y’all. I mean, she wasn’t the best singer this week, and she certainly looks a little out of place next to some of the other women, and I actually felt bad for her during that Tears for Fears song they all sang, but hey … that’s not the point.
The point is that in my own warped little world, my demented sense of reality tells me that my two posts made change happen today. Behold! I am the change maker.
Who is responsible for the ice and slush on the sidewalk of Babcock St. in Brookline not being cleared yet? The storm was more than a week ago, and yet, that long strip of sidewalk along the parking lot by Harvard Ave. is still covered by a mix of snow, ice, slush and just mess. It’s the only extended part of the street that has yet to be cleared, most likely because it’s not in front of an apartment building. And I know there are rules about this sort of thing if you own property. Well, if this is community property that doesn’t fall under the aegis of a landlord, then doesn’t this strip of sidewalk belong to the town of Brookline? And shouldn’t the town have done something about it by now? And if the weather’s been warm the past two days, wouldn’t it make sense to clear the sidewalk now? I’d love to see this get done soon, so I don’t have to walk in the street anymore to avoid slipping. Especially before the weather turns cold again and more snow comes. Thanks.
What is happening to Coolidge Corner? I mean, I’m no fan of Mickey D’s, but the news in today’s Boston Globe that the McDonald’s in Coolidge Corner is closing is something of a shock. (I guess I missed the story when it was in the Brookline Tab a couple weeks ago.) Apparently, the real estate that it (and the florist next door) occupied will become a Citibank location (sigh — another bank taking up residence in Coolidge Corner). Again, I’m not saying I like McDonald’s, but given that the space previously occupied by Zathmary’s that’s been closed and unoccupied for almost a year is still without a tenant, why doesn’t the bank go there? McDonald’s, for all its chaininess and bad foodiness, etc., is another one of those ‘Corner institutions that you just assume will always be there, like J.P. Licks or Zaftig’s. In fact, one of the best memories I have of this Mickey D’s (and this may be the only one) is after seeing Super Size Me at the Coolidge Corner Theater, when I had a sudden, unpredictable hunger for some Chicken McNuggets (no kidding. I thought the movie was supposed to have the opposite effect). The Coolidge Corner McDonald’s was right there across the street to satisfy me. So, whether or not I ate there recently (and I don’t think I have for at least a year or so), I’ll be a little sad to see this Mickey D’s go when it closes later this month.
Martin's Musings 